端粒、端粒酶与肿瘤

端粒和端粒酶与人类的衰老和肿瘤的发生发展有着极为密切的关系，端粒是一种封闭真核染色体末端的脱氧核糖核酸，对染色体起保护作用，端粒酶是一种特异的染色体末端转移酶，它的存在解决了染色体末端复制缩短问题，同时认为端粒酶的过度表达与细胞的永生化和癌变直接相关。因此，有关端粒和端粒酶的深入研究对肿瘤的诊断和治疗有着极其重要的意义。本文对端粒和端粒酶的结构与功能，及其在细胞癌变中的重要作用进行了综述。

Telomere, Telomerase and Tumor

It has been reported that telomeres and telomerases play important roles in aging and tumorigenesis. Telomeres which are simple repeat elements located at each chromosome end of eukaryotic cells can protect the chromosome instability. As a specific chromosome terminal transferase, telomerase can solve the end-replication problem. The over-expression of telomerase is directly related with cell immortalization and canceration. As a result, the researches on telomeres and telomerase have vital significance in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In this paper, the structure and function of telomeres and telomerase, especially their importance in cell canceration are reviewed.